Candidate says he supports traditional Democratic values

CLEVELAND (AP) - Howard Dean, one of nine Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination, says he is a centrist who cares about traditional Democratic values.

He says Democrats need to stand up to the president and be proud of their party. The former five-term Vermont governor also says the way to beat George Bush is not to be like him, but to give the 50 percent of Americans who voted against him in 2000 a reason to vote again.

Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell stopped in briefly to greet Dean, whom she described as a friend. She declined to endorse him, saying she has a favorite son to consider in U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former mayor of Cleveland.

Dean describes himself as the only Democratic front-runner who opposed the war in Iraq.